TOMS RIVER - So it's come to this: the Easter Bunny fainted while on duty at Ocean County Mall.

Toms River police report that the Easter Bunny, as portrayed by a costumed 35-year-old Berkeley woman, passed out at the mall in Toms River on March 26 and was taken to Community Medical Center for treatment, according to WOBM, an Ocean County-based radio station.

Go ahead and giggle.

But don't judge the bunny. You'd pass out, too. You know you would.

Think about that furry costume, and think about how many Bunny helpers have worn that heavy head with the long ears. Imagine the layers of sweat, the lack of peripheral vision, the umpteenth child crying in your lap.

Consider that a battery of bunnies is on duty almost continuously through Easter. This week at Ocean County Mall, the Easter Bunny will be posing for photos through 9 p.m. March 31.

Queasy yet?

Whatever the Easter Bunny's helpers get paid, it is not nearly enough.

So let us send a collective bouquet of carrots to that beleagured bunny, with hopes that the spring is back in her step and her Easter cheer is restored. Thank you, Easter Bunny, from parents everywhere!

Stephanie Berberich of Manasquan and her 2-year-old twin daughters, Angelina and Marianna, watch the Easter Bunny parachute into a field after an egg hunt at Monmouth Executive Airport in Wall, NJ Friday April 14, 2017. Tanya Breen